New Beer Weekend #97

Hello Late Night NBW (S)
Lone Pine IPA from Sawdust City
Thanks to @Coronaeus for hitting me with this one in NBS BIF #15.
16 oz can stamped APR 05 2022
Beautiful pour. Slightly opaque golden orange in hue and capped off by a solid 2 fingers of white foam. Great retention and layered soapy lacing.
Nose is as advertised. Starts off with both citrus and pine resin note, already hand in hand. Citrus is orange zest and grapefruit. Pine resin is almost sappy. All of this presents a firm bitterness. Underneath it all, a slightly sweet biscuit note.
The nose foreshadowed well. However the bitterness I expected is tapered back a tad. This is really balanced, yet still assertive. Orange peel and pine resin, slightly earthy, a hint of pepper or rye, a bit of floral grapefruit, and a solid (mildly sweet) bread note all work together beautifully.
Mouthfeel is medium, moderate carbonation, with a nice drying bitterness on the finish.
Overall, a solid example of what we now call a west coast IPA.
3.96/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass, pours a very attractive mahogany with a half finger sticky tan head that leaves some thin lines of lace with solid retention. 4.5

Aroma fig, dates, toffee, caramel, brown sugar, oaked vanilla, and booze a ton going on. 4.25

Taste follows dark fruit up front, brown sugar, toffee, caramel, woody oak, and lip smacking booze really well balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, actually not dry, soft gentle carbonation, and at 13.9% you know it is a sipper, but because of how complex it is it goes down easier than it should. 4.5

Overall this is a very special beer, but I will not be spending $35 for it again any time soon, but it was an amazing experience. 4.5

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 5/24/22. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Aroma is passionfruit, mango, tangerine, peach, a hint of garlic, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows passionfruit, mango, tangerine, peach, a hint of garlic, and apricot really well balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, fairly soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.2% it goes down very easy. 4.25

Overall this is very nice, maybe it needs a little more time in the can to mature and for the flavors to gel. I still dig it, but wondering if in a week it will be even better. 4.25

 

Magic Drip from Boulevard.



Look
Pours inky-black, and completely opaque. The dark tan head recedes fairly quickly, leaving a thin cap on top, along a thin edge of oily-looking lacing around the glass.



Smell
Huge, MASSIVE espresso on the nose. Aside from the rather generous notes of alcohol, the coffee dominates. This is a very good thing if you like coffee (and espresso), and if you don’t like coffee you might want to avoid this one altogether.
No hop presence to speak of, but dark malt character in spades: Much like a Belgian strong dark ale, with cocoa and lighter toffee and (again) coffee/cold brew notes. This is right up my alley.

Taste
Sweet and lightly bitter/acrid on the first sip, followed by wave after wave of dark malt character (chocolate, toffee). Submerged beneath the broader malt character — and the coffee — there are lighter vanilla notes, along with an overall spiciness, derived partly from the heavy coffee infusion and partly from the strength.

The lingering character after the first sip is a bittersweet one, and the “oiliness” coats the palate and roof of the mouth more than adequately.

Feel
This one would be fairly big-bodied owing to its style and strength, but it’s a bit thinner in fact, than one might imagine at first. It also fairly easy drinking due to its minimal bitterness and enhanced sweetness.

Overall
At 13.6%, this is “up there” among the bigger entries in the R/IS category, and doubtless there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of stronger examples these days. Such strength affects drinkability for most people, although for the style (and especially for the Pastry Stout sub-style, which this one also borders, or even crosses the line) it is to be expected nowadays, so the strength can’t really be seen as a “knock” against it. You read the label, you know the style, you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into!

Altogether, this reminds me a whole lot of a Coffee Liqueur, or of a whiskey flavored with coffee (the very familiar Jameson brand has one, as do a few others), and it’s a sub-style of beverage alcohol which I myself have flirted heavily with in the last couple of years (since I began to distill and barrel age at home).

An excellent sipper, and a great beer overall, which manages to straddle the Imperial and Pastry sub styles of stout.

 

Grabbing a wild ale today from Colorado.

Avery Amicitia



Bottle Notes: 12 oz bottled September 21, 2017, 8.2% ABV, 1482 cases produced. No. 47 in our Barrel-Aged Series. Ale aged in cabernet sauvignon barrels. Brewed and Bottled by Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, Colorado. Purchased in September 2019 for $4.50 at Fischman's bottle shop closure sale, cellared until 6/20/21, refrigerated thereafter.

Brewed with Rocky Mountain Water, malted barley, hops, Saccharomyces yeast, Brettanomyces Drie yeast, lactoracillus and pediococcus.

Appearance: Single pour into a chalice. Dark brown base, significant lighter brown floating sediment. Creamy tan head leaves nice layer above. Very fine bubble lacing throughout. Not penalizing for the floaters due to the age. 4.25

Aroma: Nice strong aroma, sour and Brett leads, fruit backs with grape taking the lead and a pineapple orange back. Has held up well. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with aroma, even higher strength. Guessing it has balanced out mellowed over time, really loving where it is today. A funky sour Sauvignon grape takes the lead, orange, cherry and pineapple back well. Getting nice oak holding it all together. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Medium body, barely there fizzy carbonation helps prop further. Sweet and sour, lightly dry. Very easy drinking through the first half when considering the ABV, nice clean refreshing finish. Floaters not interfering at all. 4.5

Overall: This bottle held up very well, very well blended, a wonderful wild ale. I believe this is a one off, but would definitely seek out barrel aged wild ales from Averie in the future. 4.5

Was lazy yesterday, but hope to hit at least one tap room today with a new to me offering. Will catch up with Sunday in the interim.

 

Wondering if what will be even better? What beer is it?

 

Good morning NBS/nbw and to those families who have lost loved ones in defense of our country. A national day of rememberence for all your loved ones efforts, something you do every day. My heart felt best to you all, from the son and brother of veterans, who all served in combat, but returned, changed, yes, but returned.
Cemetery work completed this morning and ready to rest a bit after a long gloriuos weekend at Solid Sound.
Todays offering is from Lawsons, Brave Little State is a fine pale ale, theres no mistaking the current popular formulation of these, extremely light malt bill with likely some wheat and oats, then late addition hops and futher dry hopping is my guess.
Nice and brite on the palate with large tropical and piney aromatics.

Brave Little State

Pale Ale - American | 5% ABV
Lawson's Finest Liquids in Waitsfield, Vermont

3.96/5 rDev -0.5% | Average: 3.98
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
by SABERG from Massachusetts

Poured from a 16 oz can, dated 4/11/22 into the pint glass
A - Hazy light yellow pastel color, Lasting white froth, with excellent lacing.
S - Light grain notes, with hops delivering a citrus, lemongrass, and pine
T - Here the grain, hop mashup is a bit more tropical, with some pineapple, and lemon zest.
M - Lite in body, carbonation keeps things crisp, lovely dry finish
O - A very good, pale ale. Consistant with this current take on the style. And for a good cause

 

Did anyone else get to impression that @Roguer was phoning it in?
That said, looking at the pictures and counting the beers it’s an astounding thing he posted anything at all. I’d be under a table somewhere. Hat tip!

 

Received courtesy of @Beersnake1 in a retaliation strike relating to NBW BIF #15. He sent it very, very fresh.
Sadly, this got missed by me in my beer fridge and forgotten for too long. So take this review with the grain of salt.
Poured a transparent straw yellow with active carbonation and a short (and shortly lived) nearly white head.
Aroma was piney and curiously dry- not sure how one smells “dry” but it came to mind.
The taste was really good; tropical fruit and piney and esters- starting out great!

Then what I am guessing were the muscat grapes kicked in and it went oddly. Like a really dry white wine with an IPA mixed in.
I tried to appreciate it for what it was and largely succeeded, but not sure if I would want to pick up a 4 pack.
The feel was good, any dryness was either in my head or not there. I think, I can’t state for certain.
Enjoyed trying this and thinking about it, it was a very good learning experience. Just wish I had gotten to it fresh as it looks (based on earlier reviews) that the grapes were much less present.
Thank you for the experience @Beersnake1 !

 

Good morning BAs! This morning’s new breakfast beer I picked up at the brewery yesterday, Arkane Aleworks’ “Dessert Eagle (Greater)”, a BBA Imperial Stout (10%) with cinnamon and habanero peppers:



Poured at 54°. Quick tan cap leaves a few micro dots atop a jet black body with ruby edges; thin ring disappears, no lace. Nose is bourbon with cinnamon. Sweet chocolate and brown sugar followed by hot peppers; some cinnamon in the finish. Lots of heat in the mouth from the habanero peppers; smooth silky feel; medium light body, but feels thin; moderate minus carbonation. Overall, the peppers overwhelm the whole; the cinnamon was thankfully mild, but I would have liked more chocolate and bourbon; maybe my least favorite Dessert variant to date.

3.75 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4
Score: 4.09 rDev 0. I added beer to database.

Cheers y’all!

 

3 Sheeps Cuvée Blend while finishing Stranger Things.
4.46/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
by larryi86 from Delaware

22 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small tan head.

S- Chocolate, toffee, figs/dark fruits, caramel, whiskey, oak, touch of licorice.

T- Toffee, chocolate, figs, dark fruits, caramel, oak, hints of vanilla, whiskey, hints of licorice.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- A great cuvée that’s is very easy to drink. Was thinking it would be more stout heavy but the Quad and Barleywine really shine in this.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the kind words. Expected both to shine, not sure if Deschutes brews Saisons anymore, but would definitely try another, they are a great brewer. Your Short's Pilsner sounded very good, wish we had that available here to try, as well as Fat Heads, Alchemist and Lawson's among the beers I see regularly in WBAYDN and NBW/NBS.

Loved the photo's from the Newark Local Beer Co. Building @MacMalt ! Enjoyed the solid Portuguese restaurants in the city we were able to enjoy during a work trip nearly 30 years ago (How time flies). Hope the city still has these gems, sounds like they are creating beer gems as well!

 

Have a good Monday. Me and Julia walked 5.5 miles on the beach to bird island and back. Now we are at makai brewing. Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/l3qsjGirsqb











Makai life. Awesome Czech pils. Aromas and flavors of lemon, pear, lavender, wheat, cracker, bread dough, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Lt med herbal grassy spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium high carb, lt med body, crisp/clean/refreshing/soft finish. Balanced creamy grainy sticky mouthfeel. Slight resin drying. Very clean lager flavors. Zero warming abv. A very great spot on style. 4.15


Cheers

 

Makai raspberry temptress. Awesome fruited berliner. Aromas and flavors of big raspberry, fruit skin/seed, wheat, cracker, bread, lacto funk, hay, straw, grass, light pepper/salt. Nose is a lot bigger on jammy fruit notes. Med lactic tartness and fruit tang on the finish. Med high carb, light body, crisp clean refreshing finish. Balanced grainy malt and lactic acid. Light tannins and salinity. No pucker/astringency. Very flavorful. Not overly lactic. Balanced fruit and lacto flavors. 4.12


I won battleship.


Cheers

 

Gin rummy. She has 60 points. I have 35.


Makai fire knife. Great dipa. Aromas and flavors of red grapefruit, orange, lemon, peach, pineapple, passionfruit, mango, melon, blueberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, pepper, pine, caramel, toast, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earth. Med pine/ rind bitterness. Balanced creamy/bready/sticky med full body. Some resin drying with no cloying/astringent. Great Citra, mosaic, Centennial, Amarillo profile. Very juicy and fairly dank hops with a nice sized malt backbone. Min residual sweetness. No complaints. 4


Cheers